


The Five Times Kallus Sees Zeb and the One Time Zeb Spots Him First

by ChangeTheCircumstances



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Five Times Plus One, Happy Ending, Kallus centric, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 08:12:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6366259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangeTheCircumstances/pseuds/ChangeTheCircumstances
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events on the Geonosian moon, Kallus sees Zeb five more times until Zeb finally spots him first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Five Times Kallus Sees Zeb and the One Time Zeb Spots Him First

-1

The first time Kallus sees Zeb after the events on the Geonosian moon, he doesn’t exactly get to chat. All he sees is the _Ghost_ but he doesn’t doubt for a second that Zeb is on it. He happens to be one of the men at the guns that day and he lines up the ship perfectly. His finger itches yet by the time the _Ghost_ has jumped into hyperspace, Kallus realizes he couldn’t shoot.

If he had, he may never have seen Zeb again and that brings forth an odd pain that Kallus doesn’t understand (or perhaps he just doesn’t want to).

After that, his sleep becomes more restless and Kallus finds himself slowly becoming distant with his fellow Imperial Officers-no, that’s not quite right. Kallus simply realizes that he never was close with the Imperial Officers, no real comradely had formed between them. He had no family, no friends, and he shouldn’t.

This was a war not some stupid club!

Yet the pain that grew in his chest couldn’t be ignored and only lead to more sleepless nights.

-2

The second time Kallus catches sight of Zeb, the Lasat still doesn’t see him, too busy running into the _Ghost_. But the girl, the one who likes to blow things up, she does see him. Kallus has been ordered to kill everyone on this small mining colony, the group apparently to unruly to be worth it.

The girl is guiding a group of children into the ship and away from the slaughter that is happening around them and once again, Kallus has her directly in his sights. His finger itches to pull the trigger but instead he lowers his gun. For a moment, they’re both frozen and then Kallus rapidly turns away from her and the children and starts firing at the other inhabitants.

Even though he’s basically saved the group of kids, Kallus doesn’t feel any better and can’t help becoming sick once he arrives back onboard the ship. The miners weren’t a dangerous species that could only be subdued by genocide.

But killing all of them was easier Kallus realizes. It wasn’t the right way out but the simple and easy one. He tries to think of how many times the Empire has decided to use the easy way out rather than the right one.

The thoughts that swirl through his head cause him to be violently sick again.

-3

The third time Kallus sees Zeb, his eyes still don’t lock with Kallus’. Zeb probably doesn’t even realize that Kallus is there. After multiple incidences, Kallus had been demoted to the boring and dull duty of watching over transferring shipments on a small planet.

Today, food is being moved and it’s clear that Zeb and that young human boy are preparing to steal several crates.

Kallus should report it. He should say something. But instead, he simply watches from the shadows. The boy laughs and jokes and Zeb sometimes laughs in return or hits him over the head due to an incredibly stupid or lewd comment.

As they carefully board crates onto their speeder, Kallus mentally calculates what they are taking. He knows what is in each box and knows how many it will feed. He wonders who the food will go to, which starving race will finally get some relief.

This time, watching them go, Kallus does get a good feeling in his stomach and in a way it’s more terrifying than becoming horribly sick. He gets out his conflicting emotions by yelling at the stormtroopers who are completely confused as to how they could have lost four crates of food.

-4

The fourth time Kallus sees Zeb, it’s on a recording of him and the _Ghost_ crew fighting off Imperial Officers. Though not back to his original position, Kallus has been elevated a little and has the chance of being involved with his first proper military operation since his demotion.

But why did it have to involve Zeb?

Again, Kallus chases the _Ghost_ across the galaxy only this time he’s not leading it but is simply a grunt needed to keep the ship running. He thinks that at least this way if something happens to the _Ghost_ then he won’t be directly involved yet when they get captured, Kallus can’t help but immediately berate himself for not doing anything.

When they’re getting ready to be placed into their cells, Kallus happens to be the one that’s suppose to oversee the transfer of the human prisoners.

All that needs to be done is to walk from one end of the ship to the other where the cells are but Kallus finds he can’t. As if on instinct, he instead knocks the stormtroopers unconscious and unlocks every chain.

They’re all confused, but he doesn’t allow them to question his motives. He simply tells them to find Zeb, the Twi’lek, and run. When they don’t move right away he screams at them to and they finally are moving, back to their ship and out of sight.

The punishment for allowing the prisoners to escape is much worse than any demotion.

-5

Kallus has one last chance to prove himself useful to the Empire when he sees Zeb for the fifth time since the Geonosian moon. His mission is to go undercover and bring back the head of every member of the _Ghost_. He accepts it but not for the reason his superior officers think.

Instead, the moment he has a different identity, that there are civilian clothes on his back and the warming rock is in his pocket, Kallus is off and running. He does go to where the _Ghost_ crew is supposed to be and he does see Zeb and the others.

However, he can’t bring himself to take the final steps forward and instead, he watches as the _Ghost_ flies away.

As it turns out, that was actually the right move as the Empire had unknowingly implanted a tracker underneath his skin. After removing the thing, leaving a scar across his abdomen, a signal is triggered and now Kallus knows there really is no going back. He’s a fugitive, a failure, and he no longer has order to his life.

It would be so tempting to allow himself to self destruct at this moment, to just let everything go. But he doesn’t. Instead, he refocuses on finding the _Ghost_ only this time it’s not for the Empire.

+1

The sixth time Kallus sees Zeb after the events on the Geonosian moon, it is finally the Lasat that spots him first. Kallus is searching the stalls of food. He doesn’t have anything to pay with and hasn’t eaten in two days so he’s trying to gage which will be easiest to steal from and which merchant looks like he can afford to lose one piece of fruit. But he’s so tired, so exhausted, that when he tries to grab at one it’s disappointingly obvious.

However, before the merchant can charge him, a furred hand seems to come out of nowhere and hands the merchant several credits.

“That’s enough right?”

The merchant nods and focuses his eyes elsewhere. For Kallus, his eyes just stare at the piece of fruit in his hands, almost to afraid to turn and see who is behind him.

Thankfully, he doesn’t have to as Zeb is the one to grab him by the shoulder and spin him around.

“Shit Kallus. What happened to you? All top Imperial Officers treated this bad?”

Kallus tries to come up with something snarky and sarcastic but in that moment, he finds that the words just won’t come to him. All he feels is joy and good lord, he realizes it’s been a very long time since he’s truly felt that emotion. Ultimately, no words come to him and he instead grabs Zeb and wraps him in his arms.

He can feel the Lasat’s confused stare and the way he awkwardly pats him on the head, not really sure how to react to this sudden turn of events.

“This how all Imperial Officers meet frienemies?” asks Zeb.

There’s really only one thing Kallus can say to that. “I’m not an Imperial Officer.”

“What?”

“You gave me the choice of being a Rebel Prisoner or an Imperial Officer. I’m choosing.”

Zeb just blinks at him for a moment, the implications of the words sinking in. However, he finally grins, all teeth, and says, “Ya know, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone as crazy as you.”

Kallus laughs at that, hard and deep.

Zeb shakes his head, still clearly confused but smiling nonetheless. “You’re a crazy bastard Kallus. Well, I guess we should go to talk to the crew. I’ll warn you, they may try and eat you alive. Though in the state you’re in, I imagine they’ll take some mercy on you.”

“I’m fine with whatever they decide.”

Zeb rolls his eyes. “Crazy,” he mutters but finally slips out of Kallus’ grasp that has been lingering for the past minute. “Come on, let’s give ya a proper meeting with the _Ghost_ crew.”

Kallus nods, feeling hopeful for what seems like the first time in to long.


End file.
